Sounds of Encouragement

Lauren Best lives where the Pottawatomi River meets Georgian Bay, on the territory of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (now known as Owen Sound, Ontario). She is an interdisciplinary creative with a multifaceted community arts practice interweaving her work as a poet, musician, and composer/creator.

Lauren left her small Ontario town as a young singer-songwriter keyboardist and returned to become Poet Laureate Emeritus (Owen Sou...

Lauren Best lives where the Pottawatomi River meets Georgian Bay, on the territory of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (now known as Owen Sound, Ontario). She is an interdisciplinary creative with a multifaceted community arts practice interweaving her work as a poet, musician, and composer/creator.

Lauren left her small Ontario town as a young singer-songwriter keyboardist and returned to become Poet Laureate Emeritus (Owen Sound, 2017-2...

Chris Rugowski is the man, or chicken as he is known to many, behind Chicken or The Egg Photography. He is a photojournalist who captures your authentic story. As of 2023, he’s been in photography for about a decade, and in that time has gone from hobbyist with an iphone doing a full time job in software engineering (i.e. living in the matrix) to breaking free of the matrix to become a full time freelancer living the photography, m...

Pam Asberry, M.M., has over forty years of professional experience as a music educator, adjudicator, performer, recording artist, speaker, author, composer and arranger. A BMI artist, she has released nine solo piano albums to date and her music can be heard on Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, Sirius XM, and elsewhere. Described as “a new age solo pianist of uncommon melodic grace, insight and heartfelt intuitiveness” (Jonathan Widra...

Asher began classical violin training at the tender age of
2 and had already performed with the Buffalo
philharmonic by age 13.
Asher’s expertise in improvisation across multiple genres
has led him to a career as a soloist in demand,
performing at venues such as Madison Square Garden,
Hammerstein Hall, Lincoln Center, the Jacob Javitz
Center and across four continents. Asher has also been
featured on...

Katie Dahl is a songwriter and playwright whose work is as expansive as Lake Michigan and as deeply rooted as its rocky coastal bluffs. A small-town celebrity on the Wisconsin peninsula where her family has lived for 175 years, she is now a radio-charting folk artist who tours around the world. Clear-eyed and tough-minded, fresh and funny, Katie “delivers razor-sharp lyrics with a hearty, soulful voice” (American Songwriter).

Katie’...

Owner/Instructor at the Linda Kennedy School of Piano and Voice, Linda began as an educator, arranger and performer at the age of 14. 
Mrs. Kennedy is both a degreed and Nationally Certified teacher.  She is a former instructor for Yamaha International and Kimball International.  Mrs. Kennedy is a member of Kansas City Music Teachers Assoc. and former Executive Board member.  She is an Executive Board Member of Olathe Music Tea...

Amy Rood Miller is an accomplished private music instructor, music therapist, and performer. She has sung numerous roles and performances in and around the NYC and Washington, D.C. metropolitan areas. In 2014 she founded Creative Music Lessons, LLC, a company that provides a more fun and interactive approach to musical instruction. This distinctive teaching style combines the soft skills of a music therapist or music educator with ...

For Peter's bio, see the show notes for Part 1 of the interview.
Visit Peter's website at
https://www.bazylistudio.com/bazyli-studio-wearable-art-gallery

Inspirational Art/Artists
1) La Sagrada Familia Basilica by Antonio Gaudi
2) artist Nick Cave
3) "Seaweed" by Lenore Towney
4) "Shakespeare is in the Alley" installation by Skye Ciesla
5) "Seamless Stories De...

Peter Ciesla is a self-taught textile artist born in Wroclaw, Poland in 1961. Growing up surrounded by theater, visual art and music, he developed a love for textiles and fashion. Peter started experimenting with textiles at age 11 designing and creating street fashion, as well as costume for theatre and dance performances. He emigrated to the United States in 1991 and immediately focused on developing a career as an artist/designe...

Randy Carter is a film and television editor and director.  Born in Flint, Michigan, after 8 years in the US Navy, he attended the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and the Vancouver Film School.  Based in Los Angeles, Randy has been a professional editor for 25 years. 

Randy’s focus as an editor has always been on clarity of storytelling, molding each film until it tells the story in the most interesting way, while ne...

Kayla Peeters is an American Recording Artist. She was born in Wisconsin. She is best known for her solo piano recordings and her unique teaching approach. Kayla is a member of the Music Teachers National Association as well as the Wisconsin Teachers music association. She is set to release her latest composition Nocturne in G minor this fall.

Find out more at her website!

Top 5 Songs of Encouragement
1) A Tho...

RAMI BAR-NIV is one of Israel's most acclaimed and sought after pianists. He travels extensively and has become an international citizen, concertizing all over the world. 

Born in Tel-Aviv, he graduated with honors from the Ron Conservatory and the Rubin Academy of Music, and was the recipient of many prizes and scholarships. He won the America-Israel Cultural Foundation Competition and was awarded a scholarship to further his ...

Gerardo Ramos Gonzalez is from Guadalajara, Mexico. 

He is a professor in the Music Department at the University of Guadalajara. His class is called Inglés Aplicado a la Música - IAM -(English Applied to Music) which under the English as a Second Language category is "English for Specific Purpose." All of his students are music majors within specific divisions: Performance majors (all orchestra instruments and voices, Cond...

Tony Parlapiano is a piano instructor who specializes in teaching popular styles of music through interest-led learning. He is the creator of popMATICS, a concept-based music curriculum that approaches learning by listening and reading through writing. Tony is the owner of Parlapiano Studio, an online studio that provides private instruction and small group training to students and music studios from Seattle, Washington to Syndey, ...

White-facing, biracial, multi-passionate soprano Tara Priolo has cultivated a career including performing, teaching, brand coaching, activism, and arts administration. As an educator she shares her propensity for enlivening student’s confidence paired with her strong interest in vocal pedagogy. Frequently requested as a guest soloist by smaller organizations and colleagues, Tara enjoys performing a variety of new compositions as we...

Find Door County Amplify at https://www.facebook.com/DoorCountyAmplify

Lachrisa Grandberry is a Milwaukee born native who has made her home in Chicago. She is an actress and singer who has performed on many stages; as well as a writer with a world premiere production coming this fall. She is beyond grateful for her community of family and friends, and Paonessa Talent Agency for their continued love and support. She aims to...

Amie Webster is an engaging piano teacher of 25 years, Mom of 3 busy little boys and started Motif Music Studios, alongside her husband, Jeff Webster, in 2010. 

Motif Music Studios is now a collaborative online music school with a team of creative, heart-led teachers who are focused on nurturing students in their musical growth and seeing students thrive as their individual strengths are celebrated! 

Their team is brimming with talen...

Sam Reti is a guitarist, teacher and the Founder of Muzie.Live. Sam was born in Manchester, England and raised in North Andover, Massachusetts. He picked up the guitar when he was twelve and never set it down again. He definitely inherited his dad’s love of music. Together they had father and son jam sessions every day after school. Sam on guitar and his dad on the drums! 

After accepting admission to Berklee College of Music in Bos...